Cristina Odone is a journalist, novelist and broadcaster specialising in the relationship between society, families and faith. She is the director of communications for the Legatum institute and is a former editor of the Catholic Herald and deputy editor of the New Statesman. She is married and lives in west London with her husband, two stepsons and a daughter. Her new ebook No God Zone is now available on Kindle.

When Nick Clegg denounced opponents of same-sex marriage as "bigots" in a leaked speech, he was committing a classic "liberal"-ism. Anyone who disagrees with liberal mores is perforce a bigot. (The other default slur is a fascist, but that's too explosive – even for Lib Demagogues.)

It doesn't matter that Mr Clegg's office quickly re-issued the speech, without the offending passage; or that he denied believing the words he'd penned (or his like-minded minions penned). The sentiment expressed in that revealing leak is at the heart of liberal thought today: only the liberal elite possesses the Truth. The rest are prejudiced fools fuelled by unworthy and outdated values. Worst of all, some of these values hail from – sin of all sins – religious principles.

In this way, liberals can take a swipe at everyone who opposes their most cherished principles. Worried about the number of abortions in this country? Bigot! Concerned about the dangers of an interested party pushing someone to kill themselves? Bigot! Anguished at the prospect of conscientious objectors being pummelled into submission? Bigot!

It's a playground bully mentality. It's the reason, as a Catholic, I couldn't stomach any longer the Lib-Lab pact that, no matter who is in Government, controls the Establishment. I remember that before I shifted allegiance, I was warily studying the Right, for once upon a time they too had default settings for their opponents: gays were all pervs, and anyone who talked of an international context was a traitor. To my great relief, the Right had grown up: they no longer went in for name-calling. Perhaps it's confidence in their ideals. Or perhaps it's faith in the most precious feature of Britain's culture: tolerance. Nick Clegg, grow up.